The Sidelines Just Got Complicated
by PimpedOutGreenEars
Summary: Sequel to 'Playing Pretend Just Got a Lot Gayer'. Noah and Cody are together now, but their problems are far from over; Eva and Zeke are still fighting, Cody's playing hot and cold, and Courtney might just kill them both. Will things ever just work out?
1. A New Home

**The Sidelines Just Got Complicated**

**Authors Note: Hey guys! Long time no see, right? But as I said I would, I have the first chapter out in January! ...I think that's like the first dead-line I've ever kept, lol. Anyway the name, which I hope you guys like, is a combination of the suggestions I got from 'Harlie Davidson' and 'WordWarrior192'. Thanks guys! Also this starts out a little slow, but that's because this was a good breaking point for the chapter. I was going to combind it with the second chapter, but it was getting waaay to long. So without further ado, here's the first chapter of 'The Sidelines Just Got Complicated'!**

**Noah's P.O.V.**

When I was a child my parents used to read me love stories, well, actually, they used to read my older twin sisters love stories, but since the air vent in my room was connected to my sisters' room I ended up listening to them every night too, but that is beside the point.

Every night I heard stories about love; Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, you name it I've heard it. The thing I've realized now that I'm older is that those stories are all one big crock of shit, not that I thought they were all true when I was five, but I could at least try to parallel them to real life then.

Now as I'm sitting here on a bus I can honestly tell you that love stories offer no parallel to the real world. As a child when I heard these stories I thought they meant that as a boy I was expected to go out of my way to sweep some girl off her feet and fight any obstacle to make her happy; even then it sounded like too much work, but now I see that I was wrong.

First off, now that I'm older I realize that girls have brains and working legs and therefore should be able to function without my help. Seriously, why do I need to open the car door for a girl? Is her arm broken? Or wait, maybe girls do some big secret thing in the time men waste walking around to their side of the car? Who knows. All I'm saying is that is you want equal rights then you can work for them. If you want me to open the car door for you, fine. I'll do it right after you get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich. Oh, is that sexist? Well I think me being expected to wait on a girl hand-in-foot is sexist.

Second, I've realized that it's not as easy to find someone as it is appears to be in fairytales. I mean, in stories all you had to do was be the prince and you got the girl. In the real world we aren't all princes and princesses matched up at birth with our soul mates. There is no promise of; if you save this girl from her problems she'll love you. In today's day and age you can do everything for a girl and more often than not she'll just stick you in the friend zone.

Now for the third and final reason that fairytales are lies, or at least the last reason I'm mentioning, and the one that fits me best. Sometimes you don't fall for the person you're supposed to. You see fairytales set you up to think you'll find somebody and it'll be perfect and you'll be together forever. Fairytales don't prepare you for when you decide to say 'screw the princess, I want the stable boy.'

I mean think about it, what would have happened in the Little Mermaid if Prince Eric had told Ariel that after thinking about it, he realized he was actually in love with his first mate? Do you know? Because I don't. They probably would've dethroned him or something, but that's just a guess. The point is that you'll never read a fairytale about that. You know why? Because it's not supposed to be an issue. It's not supposed to happen. Boys aren't supposed to fall in love with other boys.

So why did I?

It's the question I have been asking myself since I told Cody how I felt a mere two hours ago. It seems stupid that I didn't really worry about it until I actually confessed my feelings, but what can I say? Things really come into perspective when you realize the guy you love might not love you back.

I mean, what if I'm making a bad decision here? Being with a guy isn't exactly what I do in my spare time. I've dated plenty of girls in my life, and to be honest it's been pretty easy sailing. Is it as easy with a guy? I wouldn't know; the fairytales didn't prepare me for this.

Of course to be fair it doesn't seem like they've prepared anyone for anything, or at least not on the loser bus. Eva and Zeke spent the first hour of the bus ride bickering back and forth and it was only by the grace of Chef's terrible driving that Zeke's head hit the bus window causing him to pass out.

Then there's Tyler and Katie, and Sadie by extinction, who are acting as though their partners have died. It's like they don't realize that they'll be seeing each other within a few weeks. People need to get a clue.

As you've probably gathered this bus ride has been hell, and I haven't even taken the liberty to explain how annoying Courtney has been yet. Most of the people on this bus are unbearable, and it has given me way too much time to think. Sometimes I hate my life.

"Hey Noah, how much longer do you think we'll be stuck on this bus?" The human she-dozwer asks me in an irritated voice.

"How should I know? I don't even know where we're going." I mean honestly why even ask?

Eva rolls her eyes. "Look, my ipod just went dead and I'm not above hitting you."

"Too bad I'm not afraid of you." I say rolling my eyes back at her.

"If I had your face I wouldn't be either; you can only make improvements." Eva snaps. For her it's actually a pretty decent insult.

"Flattery will get you everywhere." I say sarcastically.

Eva is quiet for awhile and I almost think she's given up talking to me, but then she starts talking again.

"Why are you never scared?" Eva asks.

"Of you?" I ask.

"Of anyone. I've seen you stand up to Duncan before you became… Whatever it is that you two are. You just don't back down." Eva clarifies for me.

"I've realized that most people who threaten you won't actually do anything, and even if they really will, I'd rather go down with my dignity intact. And as for people like you who are punch happy, you just need somebody to lay down the law." I say smugly.

Eva laughs. "And you think you can 'lay down the law'?"

"You haven't hit me yet." I say putting my arms behind my head and lying against the seat.

Eva leans farther over the back of my seat. "But you sure were afraid I would a couple of weeks ago." Eva points out. I'm pretty sure she thinks the mix-up between Zeke and I was funny.

"That was different. Love makes people crazy. If you had actually liked me then my reasoning skills would have been useless."

Eva half snorts at me. "If only you could fight half as well as you bullshit."

"If only you could bullshit half as well as you fight." I retort.

Eva is about to reply when Cody sits up and rubs his eyes. "What's bullshit?" He asks.

"Nothing." I say laughing lightly.

Cody looks to Eva for conformation. I don't know if I'll ever get used to their friendship.

"Nothing, Noah's just full of crap, which I'm sure you know."

Cody chuckles a little as he fully awakens. "So are we almost there?"

"We don't know where 'there' is." I say in a slightly irritated voice.

Cody rolls his eyes and leans deeper into me. I feel like people just keep rolling their eyes at me today.

"Maybe we should, like, ask Chef if we're close." Katie says from a few seats away.

"Like, that is such a good idea!"

"You liked her." Eva says mocking me. Cody snickers.

"She is less of an asshole than my other love interests." I say insulting both of them.

"Hey Chef!" Katie yells gaining our drivers attention.

"Are we there yet?" Sadie finishes.

"Oh, now don't start that crap! Does it look like we're there yet?" Chef yells.

"We wouldn't know; we don't know where we're going!" I yell for the third time today.

"Just shut up, we're almost there!" Chef yells back. "Lousy kids." I think he's as annoyed with us as we are with him.

"Good." Cody says sitting up and stretching his arms. "I'm sick of this stupid bus."

"Please, you've slept through the worst of it." I say bitterly.

"I dreamed about it. In my dream Courtney was untied." Cody says and I'm really not sure if he's kidding or not.

"I heard that!" Courtney shrieks from the backseat.

"It seems though you have awakened the beast." I whisper to Cody who has shrunken down in our seat.

"Shut up, it'll hear you." He whispers back with a smile on his face. Pretty funny joke. I snicker.

"Ugg, what happened, eh?" We here from a bus seat not far from ours. Looks like homeschool's awake. Or maybe we should start calling him homeboy instead.

"Chef's driving knocked you out!" Sadie squeals.

"Yeah, it was like, sooo scary." Katie says with her hands on her cheeks.

"And yet nobody moved to help him…" I mumbled.

"Oh." Zeke says sitting up in his seat and rubbing his head.

All of a sudden the bus slams to a stop and Tyler flies over the seats and hits the windshield. Only on this show can physics be defied every few minutes.

"We're here, now form a single file line and-" Chef is cut off by a bunch of us rushing the doors to the bus.

"STOP! STOP! GET BACK!" Chef screams at us as we push him up against the bus doors. "I said GET BACK!"

Finally we all stop and remain still in front of Chef.

"Now back up!" Chef screams. We all back up a little ways.

"Good." Chef says moving farther away from the door. "Now, this aint no Playa Des Losers, this is a modest abandoned film studio. It doesn't have your fancy HD T.V. and you won't have your own rooms-"

"Ooooo! We get the share rooms!" Katie squeals.

"That'll be so fun!" Sadie screams.

"I call Sadie!"

"I call Katie!"

"SHUT UP!" Chef screams. Katie and Sadie both shrink back at the sound of his voice. "Now, you can pair up with someone now or you can take one of the empty rooms and pair up with someone later. Either way, you better choose fast because I'm giving out keys and I'm not waiting on you losers."

Tyler is the first person in line. "I'm gonna take a single. Me and Lindsey can room together if she gets the boot."

"You can't room with a girl fool." Chef says to Tyler as though he's an idiot, which he kind of is.

"Why not?" Tyler asks.

"Cuz Chris doesn't want any pregnant teenagers." Chef answers.

"Dude, guys can't get pregnant." Tyler says smiling brightly. "Can they?" What an idiot.

"Just take the key." Chef says slamming a key into Tyler's hand and shoving him out of the bus. We hear him yell as he hits the ground.

Cody and I are next in line.

"Here you go." He says handing each of us a key. We both give him an odd look. "What? Chris doesn't care if one of you gets pregnant."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, that's what the look was for."

"Do you guys not wanna room together?" Chef asks oddly.

"Well, we do, but-" Cody gets interrupted by Chef.

"Then take the keys and stop being pansies." Chef says shoving the keys into our hands and giving us a look that says that we need to get out of the bus before he pushes us.

"What-ever." I say rolling my eyes and walking off the bus with Cody at my heels.

Once we're off the bus Cody turns to me. "What a jerk. He could have at least asked us." He says before we go to get our luggage out from the bottom of the bus.

"Tell me about it." I agree before I grab my suitcase out from under the bus.

"So, we're room 107. Not bad." Cody says grabbing his luggage.

"Yeah, that should mean no stairs." I'm actually really happy about that.

"Can you get any lazier?" Cody asks jokingly.

"I can try." I say as we start our walk toward the building. Cody rolls his eyes as he bumps me with his shoulder and I smirk back in reply.

Cody and I walk into the building in relative silence, each taking our time to look around and examine our new place of residence.

The hallways are decorated in red and gold and it looks like a cross between the Gryffindor corridor and a bad hotel porno. I'd call it Harry Porker and The Prisoner of Asskaban.

"It looks like we might catch an STD." Cody says as though he is reading my mind.

"I was just thinking about that." I say as we continue our way down the hall. As we walk I try to ignore the peeling wallpaper and the random stains on the wall that I hope to never find out the consistency of. We finish the walk down the red carpet and finally reach room 107, which is marked with a crooked gold plaque with the room number written in black.

"Well, here goes." Cody says as he pulls out his key and unlocks the door to our new room.


	2. 20 Questions

**The Sidelines Just Got Complicated: Chapter 2**

**Authors Note: So I'm thinking updating will be monthly, at least for now. School is pretty busy right now, but maybe once summer hits I'll speed things up. Also I am once again in need of a beta, if you're interested PM me or let me know in a review. Speaking of which, review and let me know what you think!**

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**Noah's P.O.V.**

Our new room is actually pretty nice compared to the hallway. I mean it's no Playa Des Losers, but then again where is?

The room follows the same red and gold color scheme as the hallway outside did, but it's a lot cleaner. The room itself is medium sized; it's just big enough for two people to live together without being completely uncomfortable, it's about what I have expected from Chris. The room comes equipped with a medium sized T.V., a small bookshelf, two dressers, and two twin sized beds.

"Not too shabby." Cody says happily as he abandons his luggage in the middle of the floor in favor of running to jump on his bed.

"No, but I should warn you that you just contracted Gonorrhea. Congratulations." I say as I shut the door behind me.

"Darn, I was hoping for Chlamydia. Oh well, maybe your bed has it." Cody says as he crosses his arms behind his head and lies down.

"Oh yes, maybe we'll just push the beds together and find out." I say as I begin to unpack my suitcase and put my things in the drawer.

"Heh ." I hear Cody reply nervously.

"I was kidding, although you did seem to prefer my bed at the Playa." I say smirking before turning to look at him. "You might want to unpack." I say laughing quietly at his blushing face.

Cody quickly recovers and hops off his bed to grab his things and start unpacking. We unpack in silence for awhile before I finish and turn to look at him. He has his back facing me and he is bent down over the last drawer in his dresser.

I watch him unpack for a few seconds before I get up and walk over to him. I'm about to say something when I spy something strange resting in his suitcase. He doesn't notice me as I bend over and pull the stuffed animal out of his suitcase.

"Umm, is there a reason you have a stuffed turkey in your suitcase?" I ask trying not to laugh as I raise my eyebrow.

Cody twists around hastily and leaps up to grab the bird out of my hands.

"Dude! You can't just grab stuff out of my suitcase!" He says defensively while pulling the bird to his chest. "And Jerry is an emu, not a turkey."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, there's a big difference between a turkey and an emu." He says as he walks over to his bed and lays 'Jerry' down on his pillow.

"I meant that you carry around a stuffed turkey." I clarify.

"Emu." He says turning around to glare at me.

I hold up my arms to show my surrender. "Sorry, my mistake."

"And I take him with me because I've had him practically since I was born." Cody tells me before he walks back over to his luggage to finish throwing his last few things in the drawer.

"Oh, I see." I say before going to sit down on my bed.

"Don't you have something like that?" Cody asks as he closes the drawer and flips the lid closed on his suitcase.

"Nine kids remember? Nothing lasts that long. Besides, even if I did I wouldn't admit it." I say with a smirk on my face.

"Not even to me?" He asks as he makes his way to my bed and sits down beside me.

"Not even to you." I say rubbing his hair affectionately.

He bats my hand away before speaking. "Come on, you would to."

"I would not." I say confidently.

"Then tell me something else." Cody says quickly changing directions.

"What do you want to know?" I ask.

"Hmm, something that no one else knows." He says before lying down in our limited space.

"Uhhg. Cody that's so stupid."

**Cody's P.O.V.**

"Why is that stupid?" I ask sitting back up. I think it's a good question.

"Because it's the same question that always gets asked in bad romance movies. It's like the automatic sign that you need to turn off your T.V. or walk out of the theater, because the movie is going to blow." Noah says before he lies down.

"That is so not true." I say defending myself. I'm sure a romance movie with a line like that would be very popular.

"Oh, but it is. You can either ask me a real question, or forget it." He says looking at me with a smirk.

"Fine, how about we play 20 questions?" I ask lying down beside him.

"Ah, another cliché." Noah says amused. I elbow him. "Ouch, fine we can play." He says rubbing his shoulder. What a baby.

"Good." I say smiling. I like getting my way, especially around Noah. I know I'm dating him, but sometimes I just want to knock him down a few pegs. I blame him for making me think it's okay to be a jerk.

"So, are we playing just yes or no questions, or…" Noah trails off in his question.

"No, all questions are good. The only rules are that you can't re-ask the other person's question; like if I ask you your favorite color, you can't just turn around and ask me mine, and you can't lie" I explain.

"Okay, so who starts?" Noah asks looking up at the ceiling.

"You can." I offer.

He smirks. "So what's your favorite color?"

I roll my eyes. "Way to be creative." I say laughing a little. "It's green."

"Okay, good to know," He says. "Your question."

"Umm, do you have any pets?" I see Noah as a cat person.

"Yeah, I have a dog. His name's Sparta." Noah says with a smile on his face.

"Really? A dog? I saw you as more of a cat person." I mean he seems like the kind of guy who'd have a low maintenance animal if any.

"Why would I want a pet that thinks it's better than me? Cats are so snobby." He says easily.

"It'd be like having a clone." I say teasing Noah.

"Whatever. I spend time with you without making a fuss." Noah points out while looking at me through the corner of his eye,

"Point taken, so what kind of dog is he?" I wonder if he has a little dog. I hope it's not a lapdog, they're the worst.

"If you want to know so badly, then it can be you next question." He teases me and I scowl at him.

"What's your full name?" Noah asks me.

It's actually a good question seeing as now that I think about it; I have no idea what his last name is. Am I a whore for dating someone when I don't even know his last name?

"Cody Emmet Jamison Anderson." I hate my name. Actually I just hate that my middle names sound stupid together. Why couldn't my parents have just picked one middle name?

"Wow, that's a mouthful." He says in his attempt to be polite, but I can tell he thinks it's a stupid name too.

"Yeah, my parents couldn't agree on a middle name." I say rubbing my neck.

"It could've been worse." He says in as comforting a way as he can muster.

"Is yours worse?" I ask curiously.

"Afraid not," He says smiling. "But I'm sure someone's is."

"Gee, that's reassuring." I say smiling.

"Your question." He prompts. If I didn't know any better I'd say he actually likes this game.

"Okay, um, who's your best friend back home?" I ask looking at him.

"His name's Joe. He's kind of a dumbass; imagine a less hungry Owen." Noah says smirking.

"I think you just try to hang out with people who make you look smarter." It's totally Noah's style.

"You caught me." Noah says smiling. "It's also how I choose my relationships." Noah adds before ruffling my hair.

"Ha ha. You're funny." I say pushing his hand away.

"I like to think so." Noah says laughing lightly.

"It's your question." I remind him.

"What number are we on?"

"Five."

"Okay, do you have any allergies?" He would ask that.

"Several actual, but most of them aren't found around here. They're pretty exotic." I say trying to be casual.

"Ooo, exotic allergies, kinky." He says before he starts snickering.

"Shut up! Most of them are only found in places like the Amazon! That makes them exotic!" I shout defending myself, although I'm fighting back a smile.

"Alright, alright; your allergies are amazing." He says sarcastically as he puts his hands up in the air in defense.

I shake my head at him and push his shoulder. He scoffs at me as he rubs his sore shoulder and scowls at me.

Big baby.

"So what kind of dog is Sparta?" I ask going back to an old topic.

"Golden retriever." He says with a smile on his face.

"So not what I pictured." I say honestly. I mean aren't retrievers athletic? How does he manage to play with him?

"Well, start picturing it." Noah says in relatively good humor. "How many people have you dated?" He asks.

I swear this is one of the most embarrassing moments of my life and I can feel the deep blush on my face. I really don't want to admit that the only other person I've ever dated was in the Albert Einstein fan club with me and dumped me after a week to date the captain of the chess team. But I did start this game, and I suppose I can leave out the details.

"Counting you? Just two." I say as I rub the back of my neck. Noah shrugs as though that doesn't surprise him or bother him.

I think back to when he told me that he dates cheerleaders and I have to wonder how many of them he's dated. Does he date a lot? It's not like I can ask the same question. I guess I'll have to go with the next best thing.

"How far have you gone?" I don't realize how much I don't know if I want to know the answer until after the question is already out of my mouth.

"What do mean?" He asks, and it's irritating because I know very well that he knows exactly what I mean.

I glare at him until he sighs.

"I haven't gone all the way if that's what you mean." He says shrugging.

I nod my head, feeling a lot better for some reason.

"Why did you want to know that?" He asks.

"I honestly don't know." I say and I can tell that the answer doesn't satisfy him, but that he'll let it go.

"How long was your longest relationship?" I ask. I want to know why he hasn't gone all the way, and I figure short relationships are the easiest answer.

"Six months." He says in a neutral tone. I can tell he's not completely at ease with this subject.

"Six months?" I ask. It's hard to believe he dated someone that long and didn't sleep with her. I know six months isn't actually that long, but for high school guys six months is like forever.

"Yeah." I nod my head at him, signaling that we can continue the game.

"What's your favorite kind of music?" I know he just wants to change the subject, but I don't want to let it drop.

"Pop," I answer before moving on to my question. "Why did you guys breakup?"

He sighs. "Because I wouldn't sleep with her."

"Why?" I ask in a small voice that I'm slightly ashamed of. I know he doesn't have to answer me, and based on the look on his face he know that too, but just as I'm about to tell him to forget it, he starts talking.

"I didn't love her." He says knitting his brows together. "At first she thought there was something wrong with her, like she wasn't pretty enough, or I thought she wasn't smart enough, or all of these stupid things that weren't true. She was pretty, and smart, and fun, and all of the things a guy could want, but I didn't love her." He sighs and squeezes the bridge of his nose. "One night she confronted me and I just had to come clean. I couldn't stand watching her blame herself. She just cried and I felt like the biggest prick in the universe."

I've never felt so bad for asking a question in my life. I never wanted to dig up these kinds of feelings in Noah.

"You know the worst part is she still didn't get it. She thought I was lying. She said that if I didn't love her then she would understand me not dating her, but that she didn't get why I wouldn't sleep with her over it. It was like she was mad at me for not using her. The part I can't stand is that if I had objectified her, she could've dealt with that. What she couldn't deal with is the thought that she wasn't attractive enough to objectify."

"It sounds like she had pretty low self-esteem."

"She did. I tried to explain more, but she just left. The next day at school I was suddenly the biggest asshole in town that thought he was too good for her. It actually made me even more popular." Noah says as though he thinks it's both funny and sad. "She won't even talk to me."

He shrugs, signaling the end of his story.

"I'm sorry." I say, and I really am.

"I'm not. Sleeping with her would have been wrong, and I don't regret not doing it."

"You're a good person sometimes, you know that?" I ask grabbing his hand.

"I have my moments." He says smiling and squeezing my hand.

"So you won't sleep with anyone you don't love?" I ask out of nowhere.

"No." He says looking into my eyes. I can feel like heart thump as I let myself remember his bus confession.

**Noah's P.O.V.**

I can see the look in Cody's eyes and I think I might have freaked him out. I am about to tell him that he cheated at our game when he rolls over to lie on top of me and begins kissing me.

He's rough as he moves his tongue to swipe across my lips and I open my mouth to let our tongues meet. It's probably the roughest kiss we've ever shared and it's intoxicating. Our teeth are bumping together and he's sucking on my tongue as I let my hands fall lower on his back.

As we're kissing I can feel his hands pulling at my sweater vest and I am quick to push him up so I can remove it. While we're separated he takes off his over shirt before roughly reconnecting our lips.

Usually Cody's playful about everything we do, but right now he is rough and needy, and seems to be in a hurry.

We continue kissing as we both unbutton our own shirts. Once they are removed we only have my white shirt between our chests. I feel Cody's hands go under the shirt as he feels his way up while pushing the shirt up to follow his hands. I feel him stop a hand to twist my left nipple and I let out a sharp grunt.

I roll us so that I am on top of him and pull my shirt the rest of the way off before looking at Cody.

His blue eyes seem to be taken over by the black of his dilated pupils and his lips are swollen. Before I can make another move he has rolled us over again and is biting his way up my collarbone to my jaw.

I feel his hands low on my hips and I swear they are sliding in to reach for the button on my shorts when we hear a knock on the door, followed by a louder knock that turns into a pound.

"Crap." I say as Cody pulls off on me and quickly grabs his clothes from the floor with me right behind him.

"NOAH! CODY! Answer this door NOW!" We hear our own personal CIT shout from the other side of the door.

"Can we pretend we aren't here?" I ask as I finish putting on my shirts.

"Coming Courtney!" Cody screams at the door as he tries to smooth down his hair.

I scowl as we walk toward the door.

Cody opens the door and we see Courtney looking as angry as she was the last time we saw her.

"It took you long enough! What were you two doing? You know what, don't answer that. I don't want to know what you were doing. It-"

"Can you just tell us what you want?" I ask interrupting what was sure to be a long bitter monologue.

She scoffs before crossing her arms. "Chris wants us to meet in the lobby. And I would suggest buttoning up your shirts correctly before you join the rest of us. Not everyone wants to know the details of your-"

"Yeah, you didn't seem so against it at Bridgette's sleepover." Cody says rolling his eyes.

"That was-"

"Yeah, whatever; see you in the lobby." I say before shutting the door in her face, although that didn't stop her from screaming at us through the door.

"I liked her a lot better before she lost TDI." Cody says shaking his head and walking toward the mirror so he can make sure he looks okay.

Before he can make it there I shove him against the way. "I liked her better before she interrupted our game," I whisper huskily in his ear. "We still have six questions left if we don't count you taking more than one turn."

"I guess we'll have to finish after this meeting." He says pushing me away and walking to the mirror.

I can't help but think he liked me more a few minutes ago.


	3. Talk Shows and Pianos

**The Sideline Just Got Complicated: Chapter 3**

**Authors Note: Hey guys! I just wanna start by thanking everyone for their reviews! There have been so many already and I feel pretty pumped! I've said it before and I'll say it again, you guys are what keeps me going! Also I got some people mentioning betaing this, but I really haven't had time to make a decision. Sorry! So if anyone else wants the job it's still open since I haven't decided, but I should be deciding within the next chapter or so; yay! Anyway, I know this chapter may seem like filler now, but I swear it contains a lot of important details for later. This chapter and the one before it have had a lot to do with just laying down stuff for later. I have a lot planned and I have to have some groundwork layed down. The next chapter should have some more fun stuff! Now, READ ON!**

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**Noah's P.O.V.**

After Cody and I determined that we didn't look like two guys who had just been making out intensely we headed over to the lobby to meet the others.

The walk to the lobby was one made in silence, which was odd. I mean, one minute he wants to talk, the next minute he's a mute. Go figure.

The walk to the lobby isn't long. It's down the hall and up one flight of stairs; the elevator is out of service at the moment, which just means that my day keeps getting better and better.

When we arrive in the lobby we see that it shares the same décor as the rest of the hotel. The furniture is all red with gold stitching, with the walls around being painted red. I recommend a makeover.

By the looks of things we're the last ones to arrive, and Chris wastes no time confirming my suspicion.

"Dudes, finally! I thought you guys were never gonna get here! You know, I do have a show to do." Chris says in an irritated manner.

"Well, excuse us. What do you want anyway?" I ask hoping this will be quick.

"I would like you all to follow me." Chris says motioning for all of us to follow him.

We all follow behind Chris, quiet for the most part; Katie and Sadie are whispering loudly to one another about where they think Chris is taking us.

We walk down another red hallway and down two flights of stairs. Once we exit the stairwell it becomes obvious that we're in the basement of the building. The walls aren't red and dirty, but grey and plain, and the carpet has been replaced with a tile floor.

"This is kind of spooky Katie." I hear Sadie 'whisper' to her other half.

"Like, I know Sadie." I hear Katie reply back.

"Not much longer now guys!" Chris calls as we walk down the basement hallway, which in all honesty could use some better lighting.

We follow Chris down the hallway, with Chris pointing out a few things to us along the way.

"This room has the footage of our still participating contestants. The T.V.'s are playing from several different angles, so you can see everyone. They'll be broadcasting footage twenty-four hours a day so you won't miss a moment of the hilariousness!" Chris says as he lets us look inside a room filled with televisions that are currently showing us footage of the contestants riding a bus to their location.

After we've all seen the room we continue walking down the hall until we reach the end where Chris opens the last door, revealing a huge room with a stage.

"This is where we will be featuring you losers on the show. We're thinking of doing a talk show where we can interview the losers as they get voted off; you'll be the peanut gallery. Of course I still need to find someone to host…"

I can't help but laugh. "I've got it; you can save money by letting the losers be the host! Ooooh, and to cause the contestants on the show even more pain you can have a segment called truth or anvil, where you ask them embarrassing questions and drop anvils on them when they lie!" I mean honestly, that's how he's going to include us?

"That's actually not a bad idea; somebody write that down!" Chris yells to a random intern that's setting up some seats meant for the so called 'peanut gallery'.

Why do I even bother? Seriously, why?

"Anyway, the day after a new contestant is voted out you will all be expected to show up here; no exceptions." Chris explains to all of us. "Any questions?"

"Are we, like, gonna get to do anything on the talk show?" Tyler asks with a raised hand.

"Preferably, no." Chris answers smugly.

"Oh." Tyler says looking dejected.

"Any other questions?" Chris asks happily.

Chris waits a moment, but when nobody says anything he continues. "Good! We'll let you know what time to show up when we decide on one! You can all go do whatever; just don't leave the building! All your food will be provided by the hotel. Now, I've gotta get back to those of you who aren't total losers yet!" Chris says before he waves goodbye and starts walking away, leaving all of us with an offended Courtney.

After Chris leaves we all start walking off, most of us talking about our opinions on Chris's new talk show.

"It's a stupid idea." I tell Cody as we walk out of the room and head back up a flight of stairs.

"Eh, it's not that bad considering. I mean it could have been a lot worse. At least we don't have to deal with anymore challenges." Cody says, continuing to climb stairs after we've already climbed a flight.

"Our room's on this floor." I say pointing to the door.

"I know, I wanna check out the lobby some more." Cody says turning to face me.

"Oh." I say wondering if he wants me to follow.

"You coming?" He asks with a raised brow.

"Sure." I say following him up the stairs.

Cody has been confusing me since this morning on the bus. I think my love confession might have come along too soon. How he was acting in our room was weird. He's not normally so forceful. I mean he is rough, but it's a playful rough. Today he seemed like he was in it to win it. I don't know what's going on for sure, but I hope things go back to normal soon.

Once we're up the second flight of stairs we walk into the hallway and back to the lobby. When we arrive we see a few other contestants had the same idea. I follow Cody as we walk around.

There's not a lot to be said about the lobby as I described it earlier, but what we do notice is that there's a door that leads into a bigger area. We walk in and look around. The décor still has a lot of red, but it looks newer, like it's been refurnished. The furniture is a different red than the other furniture that we've seen and it looks considerably newer. Cody is also quick to point out the baby grand piano sitting in the corner of the room.

"Dude! There's a piano!" He screams running over to it. I chuckle slightly as I follow him over to see the piano.

When I get there he's already sitting down at the bench looking through the book of songs that was left at the piano.

"Do you play?" I ask.

"Yeah man! I've been playing a keyboard since practically forever! I even played one in my audition tape!" He exclaims excitedly, acting like a little kid.

"What did you play?" I really do wonder. I mean what does someone like Cody play to impress?

"It was an original song; do you wanna hear it?" I can tell he really wants to, so what the heck?

"Sure, let's hear it." I say shrugging.

"Okay here goes!" He says before he starts playing. The piano is almost good, the singing on the other hand…

"_Oh girl you know it's true, you make me feel so blue! When don't come around, I was lost, but now I'm found! Come on-_" Cody sings until he's interupted.

"Like, OMG, Cody! You play piano?" Katie screams, thankfully putting me out of my misery.

"Totally!" He replies.

"That's, like, so AWESOME!" Sadie screams, only a decibel away from shattering my eardrums.

"Thanks! I was just playing Noah a song I wrote-"

"Like, oh my gosh! Did you write him a song?" Sadie squeals.

"That's, like, so romantic!" Katie squeals in agreement.

"Haha. No I wrote it before I met him. But if he plays his cards right, I might write him one in the future." Cody says elbowing me. All I can do is pray that he doesn't, at least not if it's going to sound like that.

"Yeah, maybe." I say hoping my voice doesn't display how bad I think the song is.

The rest of the evening is spent with contestants chatting around with Cody taking requests on the piano until dinner. And I have to admit he sings a little better when he's not singing his originals.

After dinner we return to the room, and Cody says he's going to take a quick shower. I shrug before lying down on my bed. At least he seemed like he was in a better mood after playing the piano; he loved soaking up all the attention. Maybe when he gets out of the shower we can play some video games. I hear Kosmic Kaos calling my name.


	4. It Sucks to be us

**The Sidelines Just Got Complicated: Chapter 4**

**Authors Note: So... That awkward moment when you haven't updated in over a year? Hey guys. I really have no excuse for not updating this, and I wish this chapter was longer, but here it is. I also want to let you guys know that I haven't given up on this story and I will continue it until it is done. I hope you guys are still with me on this story :)**

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**Noah's P.O.V.**

The last few days have been Hell. Well, maybe not that bad, but you know what I mean.

Most of us losers have been spending our time by watching the TDA footage, which is much more interesting now that we aren't competing. However, interesting isn't enough to lighten my spirits. In fact, as of lately the show has been making things worse.

"What are you doing Trent? Dude! Seriously?" Cody has been screaming at Trent for just about everything lately.

"Man, don't let him get to you!" And there he goes again.

You know what gets irritating? When your boyfriend gets obsessive about the guy who's dating the girl who rejected him.

On the one hand I get it. Trent's his friend. Gwen's his friend. He took part in hooking them up. It's all lovely.

On the other hand, it's becoming an obsession. Not only that, but it's like he's living his life through Trent. Like every move Trent makes, Cody is analyzing it and deciding what he'd do if it was him instead.

"I'm going to go do… Something." I tell Cody as I get up from my seat.

"Yeah, okay," he replies. I can tell he didn't hear a word I said.

I roll my eyes and decide to leave the room without another word. Tyler, who had been sitting behind me, was glad to have me out of the way of the TV.

After I shut the door to the camera room I decide to go check on she-man. She's been keeping to herself since we got here, not that I blame her; I'd like to be doing the same thing. Of course I've been too busy trying to figure out Cody's random mood swings to be alone. All I want to do now is focus on someone else's problems.

Nothing makes me feel better than knowing that others are suffering too, and more importantly, that they're suffering worse than I am.

Once I make it up to Eva's room I knock on the door, only to hear a grunt-like sound in reply.

"Hey, She-dozer, open the door!" I yell at the door.

A second later the door is thrust open.

"What?" Eva asks as though I've caught her at a bad time.

"I just wanted to see how you've been." I say nonchalantly.

Eva gives me a look that says she thinks I'm lying, but I don't budge. I mean, I'm not really lying. I'm just not telling her that I hope she's been worse than me.

"Whatever, just don't bug me." Eva says turning and walking back into her room, leaving me to follow her.

I walk in behind her and see that she's got a couple of hand sized barbells. She sits down on her red sheeted bed and begins to cult one of the barbells in her hand.

"Where'd you track down barbells?" I ask with a raised brow. With Eva's temper I'm surprised I wasn't greeted to her throwing one of them in my face.

"There's a gym upstairs. I stole them." Eva says easily.

"What a rebel." I say as I take a seat on the empty bed beside hers. I don't say anything, but I severely doubt that it will ever be used. At least not while we're all here.

"So where's your other half?" She asks.

"Watching the TDA footage. Where's Zeke?" I ask. I'd rather she get mad at me for asking than have her realize I'm not exactly pleased with Cody.

"Why should I know?" Eva asks with a snarl.

"Just wondered if you'd talked at all." I say with a shrug.

"He kept coming to the gym, so I stopped going. End of story," she says turning away from me.

"That does explain why you stole the barbells," I say with a shrug. "So Homeboy still isn't getting a shot with you?"

As soon as she turns toward me I know I shouldn't have said anything.

"Why would I give him anything? He's just a stupid wannabe, poser with a stupid accent! I wouldn't give him anything-"

"I should probably go-" The look on her face is one of pure rage. Her eyes are bulging out of their sockets, just as the vein in her neck looks like it wants to explode. And I swear that when she's angry her teeth turn into fangs. Edward Cullen, eat your heart out.

"And seriously that chain is just pathetic! He can't even rap!" She stands up as she screams while I back my way to her door. God don't let me die here.

"Yeah, I'll just let myself out." I say and barley manage to get through the door before the barbell hits it.

"Okay, that was a mistake." I mumble to myself. On the plus side I'm not nearly as mad at Cody as she is at Zeke, so there's that.

I am making my way to my room when I run into none other than Homeboy himself. Well, I don't literally run into him, but I see him as he gets off the elevator. I keep walking in hopes that he won't say anything, but I don't have that sort of luck.

"Hey Noah, sup, eh?" He asks me.

"Not much, yo." I say throwing in a 'yo' at the end sarcastically. I try to move past him, but he puts his hand on my shoulder to stop me.

"Have you talked to Eva lately?" He asks me.

I sigh. I really don't want involved in their thing. Date or don't, whatever. Cody's the one who's so interested in Eva living happily ever after.

"I just did, but I wouldn't try to talk to her right now. She's a little… Completely pissed off." I finish, unable to come up with a nicer way to describe the way Eva was feeling.

"Oh," he says, and I think that's it before he starts talking again, "What can I do to fix things, eh?"

"Beats me." I say with a shrug.

"But you're her friend, homes." Zeke says desperately.

"She likes who you were before the show. I don't know anything else." I make sure to stress my point as lift his hand off of my shoulder and continue to my room.

I hear him sigh behind me, but I tune it out.

It's really none of my concern.


	5. Eye of the Storm

**The Sidelines Just Got Complicated: Chapter 5**

**Authors Note: Hey guys! I'm trying to get back into updating, but as anyone following this story knows, that's a weak point for me. I hope you guys like this chapter. It's a little short, but it was a really good cut off point. The next chapter should be fun though! Thanks for the reviews I've gotten, I'm glad to see people are still reading this! Also, don't forget to let me know what you think!**

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**Noah's P.O.V.**

It's late when Cody finally comes back to our room. I've been playing Kosmic Kaos by myself for a few hours. After ditching Zeke I had went straight for our room, I had no interest in running into anyone else.

"Dude! You'll never believe what just happened!" Cody screams as he shuts the door behind him.

"Chris let out the virus from the Umbrella Corporation and we need to prepare for Zombie Armageddon?" I guess barely looking up from my game.

"Geoff and Bridgette got voted off!" Cody yells without acknowledging what I said. What a waste of a reference.

"How terrible." I could really care less. I've never thought much of either of them so I don't really see the big deal about the whole thing.

"Dude! Come on, this is a big deal. Two people are already off the show! Plus they'll be coming here." Cody points out as he plops down beside me on the bed I'm sitting on.

"Maybe they can host Chris' aftermath show. Everyone loves a couple hosting a show together. You know, leaves lots of room for drama." I say all of this sarcastically. I still think Chris' show idea is stupid.

"Man, come on, don't you care about what's happening on the show?" Cody asks.

"Um, no, not particularly. I don't see why you do." I say finally pausing my game.

"Well, if you can't win the million, don't you at least want one of your friends to win?" Cody asks. He's apparently forgotten who he's talking to.

"The best 'friend' I have on the show right now is Izzy and quite frankly I'd be terrified to see what she'd spend a million dollars on." I think we'd all be doomed if Izzy won.

"Okay, point taken. Izzy winning may not be a good thing. But wouldn't you at least want to know if she did win?" Cody asks as he falls back on the bed.

"If Izzy won the money I'm not sure there's a place on earth I could hide from her, so no." I say as I too fall down on the bed to lie beside him.

"Fine, but I still think there's a point in watching," he says shrugging. "So where have you been all day?"

"I visited Eva, and before you ask me, she hasn't changed her mind about Zeke. Speaking of which, I also ran into Zeke. He's still trying to win her over by the sounds of it." I know it's something Cody's interested in knowing.

"I think Eva should give him a chance. Who knows? I bet they would be really good together," he says as though it personally offends him that they aren't getting together.

"Honestly I think it'd be a disaster. All they've been doing is fighting. Eva's clearly not into him the way he is now, and he's clearly not going to change back. They've been a train wreck since the beginning." They should either give it up, or date for a day and find out personally that it is a terrible idea.

"It hasn't been a complete train wreck. It did get us together." Cody says it while wiggling his eyebrows at me. I have to roll my eyes in response, although I can feel myself smiling. As irritated as I am at him I can't really stay man.

"Fine, it's been good for us. But they're still screwed." I say as Cody grabs my hand.

"I think we should help them," he speaks with compassion and I don't like the sound of it.

"Help them?" I'm not sure exactly what he means, but I can't help but feel like I won't like it.

"Yeah, we should play matchmakers!" He says suddenly getting excited.

"Dear God, Cody that is a horrible idea." Please no, just no.

"Oh, come on! It'll be awesome!" He says, his voice becoming even more excited as he sat up, his hand still holding mine.

"Cody, that is a horrible idea. Eva threw a dumbbell at me for even mentioning Zeke today. Let's just mind our own business-" I'm cut off as Cody leans over and kisses me.

"Please. It'll be fun. And Eva's our friend, we totally owe her one." He bends down to kiss me again before I can answer.

When he pulls away I let out a groan. "You're going to get us killed."

He grins, knowing he's convinced me. Jerk. "What's life without a little risk?"

"Safe?" I guess as he pulls me into a sitting position.

"It'll feel good to help them." I want to argue, but since the idea of helping has put him into such a good mood I decide against it. He'll realize this is a terrible idea all on his own, I'm sure.

"Whatever. But I'm not going out of my way to do it. I'm not going to go through some elaborate high jinks to get them together. No, writing them fake notes from the other, or locking them together in a room, or any of that crap. Seriously, none of it." I say putting my foot down. Well, at least metaphorically.

"Ahh, come on! That'll be the fun part!" He says, whining slightly.

"No." I'm not backing down.

"Fine, we'll hash out the details later. Just so long as I know you're in," he says with a smile.

"For all intents and purposes I suppose I am, but when it crashes down, it crashes on you." I say so that he's clear on all of this.

"Fine, I guess that's only fair." I choose to ignore the way he rolls his eyes.

"So, we still have six questions left in our game if you wanna play?" Cody asks after we've both been silent for awhile.

"Alright, but I think I deserve an extra question since you cheated." I still haven't forgotten about that.

"How about we up the ante, make it forty questions? That way we both get to ask twenty questions. And you can ask twenty-one if you want." He suggests.

"Okay. I guess since there's nothing better to do here we might as well play more of this." I say in a tone that tells him I don't overly like this game.

"Okay then, I believe it was your turn to start." Cody states as he moves farther back on the bed to lie against the headboard. I drop his hand and move to sit across from him.


End file.
